Recreation and Places of Interest

Alaska is a state where the visitor can watch a mass migration of caribou herds across the arctic plains, see the tundra blossom overnight into a riot of color, and observe polar bears and walruses in their native habitat. It is the land of the midnight sun and the noontide moon. Few states offer such contrasts as the frozen ice fields and steaming volcanoes, the vast Interior and its towering peaks, the fjords of the Panhandle and the seemingly endless flatlands of the river deltas.

National Parks

The 15 national parks in Alaska are home to the United States’ tallest mountains and biggest glaciers and some of its most exotic wildlife. Alaska contains the country’s six largest national parks: Wrangell-Saint Elias, Gates of the Arctic, Denali, Lake Clark, Katmai, and Glacier Bay.

Of the 20 highest mountains in the United States, 17 are in Alaska. Mount McKinley, North America’s largest mountain at 6,194 m (20,320 ft), is a defining highlight in Denali National Park and Preserve. The second tallest mountain, Mount Saint Elias (5,489 m/18,008 ft), is located in Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, a park characterized by remote mountains, valleys, and wild rivers, all rich with wildlife.

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is just one of the areas in which visitors can find examples of geological phenomena. Since it was first seen by British explorer George Vancouver in the 1790s, the wall of ice that shadows Glacier Bay has retreated about 100 km (about 60 mi). Harding Icefield and forested coastal fjords are the highlights of Kenai Fjords National Park. Spectacular scenery stretches across the Lake Clark National Park and Preserve from the Cook Inlet to the Chigmit Mountains, which include two active volcanoes, Mount Redoubt and Mount Iliamna. More evidence of Alaska’s natural history can be found at Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, where steam rises from a few active volcanic vents at Katmai National Park and Preserve. In the Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve, the Aniakchak River cascades through a gash 500 m (1,600 ft) long at the rim of a volcano crater.

Alaska’s national parks also preserve the state’s rich cultural history. The Bering Land Bridge National Preserve is a remnant of the land bridge that once connected Asia with North America, the route the earliest residents took to the continent. Cape Krusenstern National Monument contains archaeological sites that illustrate Eskimo communities dating back some 4,000 years. Sitka National Historical Park commemorates the Battle of Sitka, the only armed conflict between Alaska Nativesand Europeans. Relics of the 1898 gold rush are preserved at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve.

Several parks embody the state’s nickname The Last Frontier because of their remote locations. They are generally accessible only by chartered planes and recommended only to those adventurers who are confident in their outdoor survival skills. Lying entirely north of the Arctic Circle, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, the northernmost extension of the Rocky Mountains, is the second largest national park in the United States. The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes are located in the Kobuk Valley National Park. A rich array of Arctic wildlife can be found in this park and the neighboring Noatak National Preserve, including caribou, grizzly and black bear, wolf, and fox.

National Forests

Alaska’s Tongass and Chugach National Forests are America’s first and second largest national forests, respectively. While both parks share public services such as easy access, camping, trails, interpretive centers, and hunting and fishing, each has a unique flavor determined by its landscape and wildlife.

The Tongass National Forest, covering Alaska’s Panhandle region, has nearly quadrupled in size since it was established in 1902, today encompassing 7 million hectares (17 million acres). Because of its size, the Tongass is divided into three areas: the Ketchikan area, from Prince of Wales and the outer islands to Misty Fjord and north to the Cleveland Peninsula; the Stikine area, from the islands north of Prince of Wales and south of Admiralty Island and the mainland north to Cape Fanshaw; and the Chatham area, which covers the northern portion of the panhandle.

Some 19 designated wilderness areas—undeveloped lands set aside to protect their ecological diversity—are scattered throughout the Tongass National Forest. The Kootznoowoo Wilderness area, or “fortress of the bears” as it is called by local Tlingit, covers nearly all of Admiralty Island National Monument. Misty Fjords National Monument, in the southern part of southeast Alaska, is known for its narrow, steep-walled canyons.<p>

Prince of Wales Island, part of the Alexander Archipelago in the southernmost portion of the Alaska Panhandle, is the third largest island in the United States. The island is dominated by steep, forested mountains and deep U-shaped valleys, streams, lakes, saltwater straits, and bays that were carved by glacial ice.

On the eastern boundary of the 2.3 million-hectare (5.6 million-acre) Chugach National Forest is Kayak Island where more than 250 years ago George Wilhelm Steller, a naturalist traveling with Danish navigator Vitus Bering, became the first European to set foot in what is now Alaska. One-third of the Chugach National Forest is rock and moving ice. The rest is a diverse tapestry of land, water, plants, and animals. This national forest boasts numerous trails to the wooded mountains and crystal waters of the Kenai Peninsula, the islands and glaciers of Prince William Sound, and the wetlands and birds of the Copper River Delta. The delta is a unique wetlands ecosystem where tens of millions of birds spend all or part of their lives.

State Parks

Development of Alaska’s state park system began in the 1960s. Alaska’s state parks include trail systems, recreation areas, camping, boating, and highway waysides. Many more include historic sites relating to Native, Russian, and American phases in Alaska’s history.

Parks in the interior portion of the state have average summer temperatures in the mid-20°s C (70°s F), but can fall below -20°C (below 0°F) during the winter. Summer activities include boating, fishing, climbing, and hiking. Wintertime activities include dog mushing, snowmobiling, trapping, and cross-country skiing. Denali State Park, adjacent to Denali National Park and Preserve, has interpretive centers and a view of Mount McKinley. The lowland spruce forests of the Chena River State Recreation Area are east of Fairbanks. Quartz Lake State Recreation Area is known for its excellent sport fishing. Fielding Lake State Recreation Area, also known for sport fishing, is nestled among tundra-covered hills within the Alaska Range.

Surrounding the southern and eastern sides of the Anchorage bowl, a region of milder temperatures, is Chugach State Park, the third largest state park in the country. Lakes, glaciers, and mountains make this 200,000-hectare (495,000-acre) park a popular destination all year long. Lakes, streams, and swamps make up just over half of Nancy Lake State Recreation Area’s 9,180 hectares (22,685 acres). Parks in the southwest region, such as Kachemak Bay State Park and Caines Head State Recreation Area, are host to king and pink salmon, seals, porpoise, puffins and other waterfowl, and eagles. At nearby Halibut Cove Lagoon visitors enjoy berry picking, clam digging, and fishing for Dungeness crab and shrimp. Shuyak Island State Park is at the northern tip of the Kodiak Archipelago and is subject to the severe and unpredictable weather common along the North Pacific Ocean. Afognak Island State Park is just south of Shuyak Island.

There is access from Point Bridget State Park (near Juneau) to several recreation sites popular for their beachcombing, wildlife viewing, fishing, and boating opportunities. The Grindall Island State Marine Park, located near Ketchikan, is forested with hemlock, cedar, and spruce. Seymour Canal, at Oliver Inlet State Marine Park, has the greatest known concentration of nesting bald eagles in the world. Seals, sea lions, and whales use the canal throughout the year.

Other Places of Interest

Visitors can see many marine animals and birds at the Alaska SeaLife Center, which opened in May 1998 on Resurrection Bay in Seward, Alaska. This new marine wildlife facility allows close observation of wildlife in several realistically simulated ocean environments and offers a number of hands-on learning programs about marine habitats and environmental protection. The center was financed jointly by public subscription from the citizens of Seward and funds from the Exxon Valdez oil spill settlement. It houses significant research laboratories for marine scientists under the direction of the School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Facilities also exist for the rehabilitation of sick and injured wildlife.

Visitors can also discover more about the importance of the natural environment to Alaska’s indigenous peoples and particularly their artistic traditions at locations throughout the state. In Southeast Alaska, totem poles, house posts, and other totemic art carved from the region’s large cedar trees by Native artists can be viewed in many places including Totem Heritage Center in Ketchikan, Saxman Totem Park, and Totem Bight State Historical Park as well as Hydaburg and Chief Shakes Island. Two of the oldest totem parks are the Kiksadi at Wrangell and Totem Pole Park at Sitka. Original Native art can be viewed at the Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka and the University of Alaska Fairbanks museum, while Native artists display their talents at the Sitka National Historical Park and elsewhere. Other places displaying Native art and original housing types include Kotzebue and Fairbanks, while much Native art can be purchased in Anchorage stores run by Natives.

Much art and architecture from the Russian period in Alaska’s history can be seen in Sitka, Unalaska, Kenai, Eklutna (near Wasilla), Kodiak, Fairbanks and elsewhere. The Russian American Diocese of the Orthodox Church of America has preserved this art.

Source: MSN Encarta: Online Encyclopedia